I know there’s a lot of talk about Michael Jackson’s passing and it’s all over the place. I also know that many people are getting tired of hearing and reading about it. I will make this short but this post is more of a matter of sensing my own mortality through the passing of so many “celebrities” who are not “that far” from my own age.
Ever notice when celebrities die who are really not that far from your own age it makes you say “whoa… now wait a minute”?
I am much younger than Ed McMahon. Farrah Fawcett was a good 20+ years older than I am. But Michael Jackson wasn’t even 10 years older than me. Talk about dieing a young man and making me feel just that much closer to the end.
There were mixed emotions for me when he died. There was almost a sense of “knowing” it would happen before too long just because a person can’t live like that and not burnout soon. On the other hand, people who are that far out of reach from the “rest of us” always give off an aura of immortality. There can’t possibly be an end to that type of life, is what one often feels.
My son and I watched a few documentaries (if you can call them that) this last weekend and he said he never knew much about Michael Jackson other than the fact most of the kids his age thought he was a freak. When I was my son’s age, all the kids thought he was fantastic. We watched and he said that he was surprised to find out that Michael Jackson was so talented. I just sort of grinned because honestly, he was very talented. I just think the eccentricity of his life and those who surrounded him got into his mind and he lost sight of his original goal when he first began his career.
I have no idea if the several accusations and rumors about his life were true… but I do know that for every one of them there was always an alternative answer. I personally believe he went off the deep end during the last 10+ years. The surgeries, the marriages, the purchases, the debt, the health dive and all of the changes to his looks made many of us pull away from how we used to feel about him. I thought he was very talented… but then I thought he was very crazy. Was he crazy? Hard to say. I do believe he still had a strong sense of right and wrong… he just didn’t always know how to act upon that knowledge. It’s always hard to hear but maybe he truly IS in a better place.
Farrah Fawcett died on the same day as Michael Jackson and her death took an immediate back-seat to his. I was upset at that at first but then thought perhaps it’s better for her because people will be able to let her go and not dwell on her passing the way they will for Michael Jackson. Michael’s family will deal with the passing through the fans bawling and lingering in mourning over him. They will be asked to express their feelings and relive every moment with him for a very long time. Farrah’s family will also deal with these types of things but will be able to live in peace much sooner. Sometimes too much fame really does kill.
I think fame is over rated… it may be fun for a time but eventually you come to realize that you can never get away from it.
